The Cask · Chapter
At the Gare St. Lazare explained
Inspector Burnley and M.
What happens
Inspector Burnley and M. Lefarge visit the showrooms of Messrs. Dupierre et Cie at the Gare St. Lazare to investigate the cask's journey. They interview manager M. Thomas, who confirms the cask was sent via Havre and Southampton, not Rouen. A packer identifies the cask by a distinctive split stave. The detectives discover that M. Felix had telephoned about the shipment and had been in Paris ten days earlier, raising suspicions. They proceed to the St. Lazare railway office, where the superintendent reveals the cask was delivered to the passenger cloakroom at 4:15 p.m. on March 30, under the eye of clerk Jean Duval, then placed on the 7:47 p.m. boat train to Havre.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance
The cask's apparent route via Havre contradicts its actual arrival from Rouen, suggesting deliberate misdirection.
Crime and Investigation
Burnley and Lefarge methodically trace the cask's journey, uncovering discrepancies in shipping records and witness accounts.
Characters to notice
- M. Paul Thévenet
Introduces the detectives to M. Thomas at the showroom and joins them for lunch.
- M. Thomas
Manager of the showroom; provides details of the cask's dispatch and identifies the cask as one of theirs.
- Inspector Burnley
Leads the investigation; compares handwriting and watermarks, and notes Felix's unexplained visit to Paris.
- M. Lefarge
French detective assisting Burnley; conducts interviews and examines the cask at the yard.
- Jean Duval
Clerk at St. Lazare who supervised the cask in the cloakroom; remembers it clearly.
- Mr. Felix
Mentioned as having telephoned about the cask and visited Paris ten days earlier; his order letter is compared to his handwriting.
Key passages
“That's certainly one of our casks. They are our own design and, so far as I am aware, are used by no one else.”
M. Thomas confirms the cask is of their exclusive design, but cannot swear it is the exact one.
Identification of the cask as originating from Dupierre's showroom.
“I packed this cask not a fortnight ago. By this, monsieur, pointing to the broken stave. That stave was split. I remember quite well the shape of the crack.”
An elderly packer identifies the cask by a distinctive split in the stave, which he had noticed while packing.
Positive identification of the specific cask by a packer.
“The cask left your yard containing a group of statuary, and it arrived in London containing the dead body of a woman. The change must therefore have been effected along the route.”
Lefarge concludes that the substitution of the statue for the body occurred somewhere between the showroom and London.
Key deduction about the crime's logistics.